Mount Everest

Mount Everest is Earth’s highest mountain above sea level, rising 8,848.86 meters on the border between Nepal and China. It is part of the Mahalangur Himal range in the Himalayas.

Death zone: The region above roughly 8,000 meters where atmospheric oxygen is too scarce for humans to acclimatize adequately. Everest’s summit lies deep within this high-altitude zone.
Great Trigonometrical Survey: A nineteenth-century survey of the Indian subcontinent that used triangulation to measure and map its geography. Its measurements identified the peak later named Everest as exceptionally high.
Tenzing Norgay: A Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer who reached Everest’s summit with Edmund Hillary in 1953. His summit ascent made him one of the mountain’s defining figures.
Mountaineering: The sport and practice of climbing mountains, often involving technical terrain and high-altitude travel. Everest is a prominent objective within modern mountaineering.
Sherpa people: An ethnic group originating in Tibet, many of whose members live in Nepal’s Himalayan regions. Sherpa communities have shaped Everest’s climbing economy and local life.
Altitude sickness: A group of illnesses caused by insufficient acclimatization to high altitude. Rapid ascent on Everest can trigger illness, including life-threatening forms.
George Everest: A British surveyor general of India whose name was given to the world’s highest mountain. The Royal Geographical Society adopted his surname for the peak in 1865.
Edmund Hillary: A New Zealand mountaineer who reached Everest’s summit with Tenzing Norgay in 1953. The successful 1953 expedition brought Everest’s first confirmed ascent.
South Col route: The standard climbing route to Everest’s summit from Nepal, passing through the Western Cwm and South Col. Most commercial summit expeditions use this route.
2014 Mount Everest avalanche: A deadly avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall on April 18, 2014, that killed 16 Nepali guides. The disaster intensified debate about climbing work and risk on Everest.

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